robinson



UNT-TED STATES PATENT oEEIoE. j

P. Eoianvsoiv,` or WATERLOO, NEW YORK.`

MANNER or siIPPLYINe AIE To constrain THE COMBUsTIBtEGAsi-is, aaa, THAT ESCAPE Enom THE EUENnoEs F STEAM-ENGINE AND OTHER isoLtERs.`

T 0 all whom 25 may` concern i Beit known that I, `PETER RoiNsoN, of

. lVaterloo, in the'county ofMScneca and State of New York, have invented a new` and use- Otherbolers and which' are` usually lost. by

ful impro-vement in the manner of consuml ing the combustible `gasesand smoke which escape from the furnaces of steam-engine or passing out `fro-iiiwthe chimney` 'either ina state of combustion or otherwise; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a fulln and exact description thereof;

. i `Itis a well known fact that a largequan- `tity of gaseous, combustible matter, inlthe form of oXid of carbon, and of carbureted` M hydrogen, isgenerated inthe combustion of fuel in the `furnacesof `steam-engines, as

well as inI those ofcother "kinds, and that such gas, accompanied sometimes by large quantities of smo-ke, escapes into the atmosphere in an `unconsumed state, producing thereby "a great waste of fuel. `I am well aware that means have beentaken to-effect the combustion of this gaseous andfulginous fuel, byadmitting currentsfo-f atmospheric4 airto flow into the fire chambersof steam-boiler furnaces, above `the fuel, and that these means have been pro-motive of economy. `I have, however, `devised an apparatus to be applied tothe flues of the boilers of steam-engines in such manneras to cause this combustion to beeffected more advantageously than heretofore; and which `apparatus may be applied, not only to boilers hereafter to be built, but may be added to those now in use. c

By means of my improved apparatus I admit atmospheric air into the fine, or nues, of a steam-engine boiler, just above the fire chamber, at, or within, the mouth of the flue, instead of admitting it into said cham` ber, as heretofore done and I thus effectthe combustion of the gases, and smoke, at a` point immediately in the vicinity of the `in terior of the fines, in which situation the atmospheric air, so admitted, isbrought into more direct contact, and moreiinmediately commingles with the gases and smoke to be burnt than is possible when it is admitted into the lire chamber itself. For this pun pose, I carry an air-tube, or air-tubes, through the wall, or other material, which is usually situated at the rear end, but under some constructions at the fore end, of the boiler, immediately opposite to the flue, or

fines, that pass Ythrough the boiler, allowing the center of such tube, or tubes, to coincide with the center, or centers, of said Hue, lor flues, or nearly so. On the outer nend of the tube, so inserted, I place a register by which the quantity of atmospheric air admit-ted maybe regulated at pleasure', and the in,-

ner end of said air-tube is usually furnished s witlia disk of metal so placed to cause `the atmospheric `airito be discharged therefrom through anannular opening formed by such disk, and air-tube Instead ofintroducing my supply of atmospheric air at the ordinary temperature, I sometimes int-roduceit a highly heated state ein which case I connect the outer end of the supply tube with a pipe, or with pipes, which have been allowedto pass through, or so near to,

the fire, or `other source of heat,as shallfeleo vate thetemperatureof the `contained air to three, or four, hundred, ormone, degrees of heat; 4although this heating of the at` mospheric air may not be essential, it will be found to be a very advantageous mode of procedure.

soV

The `accompanying drawing represents a section of a boiler and furnace in a vertical plane, along their centers, from front to back.

A, `is the furnace; B, the boiler, and C, a

flue running through it in the ordinarymanner. i c

D, is `the ch1mney,gand E, the ash-pit.

c F, is the tube for supplying atmospheric air, which 1s shown as passing through the tube, to force the atmospheric air to commingle atI once with the combustible gases and smoke escaping from the furnace; or

I, isa disk,` at the inner end ofthe air# this may be eected `by closing theiend of this tube, Aand making a number of perforations around 1t, close to its inner end; but

`the disk is preferred, as it may readily be made to slide in and out, so as to regulate the aperture at this end of the apparatus. The tube F, also, may 'be made to slide in and out, so as to regulate `the distance to which its inner end shall enter the flue.

If there is sufficient supply of atmospheric air there will be no difficulty whatever in the igniting of the gases, as this ignition frequently takes place when they are escaping from the top of the chimney, which is at a great distance from the fire. It is important, however, that the quantity of atmospheric air admitted should be no greater than is actually necessary to insure the complete combustion of the smoke and inflammable gases; and as this will differ atdifferent times, according to the nature of the fuel used, and other circumstances, the adjustments above designated are matters of much importance. Where there is little variation in the fu'el, or in the other conditions of the use of the apparatus, it may, of course, be made stationary, in that situation which experience may point out as the best; the means of regulating the quantity of air admitted, always remaining.

I intend, sometimes, to contract the flue, so as to lessen its diameter to the amount of two, or three, inches, more or less, at a short distance from the opening of the air-tube into it, as shown at J, J. Such contraction will have t-he effect of more completely mixing the air and gases, and will not, as I verily believe, injuriously affect the draft, as the combustion of the smoke and gases will tend to accelerate it in a greater degree than the contraction will retard it.

It may be found useful to make the tube F, double, so as to form a water chamber and prevent its being burnt out. When the tube is stationary it may obtain its supply of water from the boiler, or it may be made ro derive it from any other convenient source.

rIhe advantages proposed by my improvement are, lst, By the movable pipe or tube `which is about half the size of the boiler flue, I have the means of contracting it at pleasure, which not only brings the gaseous matter in contact with the air, in a thin sheet, and in the proportions best suited to produce ignition, but by giving the column of gaseous matter this shape, while its volume is diminished, I increase its velocity, and impel it against the surface of the boiler flue. 2d. The sheet of gaseous matter as it enters the flue is converted into fiame, which is thrown in a sheet upon the whole surface of the flue, thus exposing almost double the surface, to the action of this intense heat, which like that produced by the blow pipe, is rendered most intense, at the upon, and in contact with, the surface of the flue, instead of having it pass through in a mass. 4th. This apparatus also by sending the air through the thin sheet of gaseous matter, and coupled with thel contraction of the boiler flue itself, produces a perfect cominingling of the gaseous matter, with the air, thus obviating the diffi-V culty experienced by others, that in proportion to the amount of air introduced to effect this object more perfectly, the heat in the furnace is diminished. 5th. This sheet of iame so directed against, and brought in contact with, the surface of the boiler flue, entirely prevents the incrustation which would otherwise take place in it, from smoke and other matter, lod'gfing =upon it, andl which being a non-conducto-r of heat, prevents the full action of the heated air passing through it, and so operates as a great drawback upon the production of steam in the boiler. 6th. Whatever heat is generated by my invention, is so much gained upon all past improvements, inasmuch as the carbonaceo-us matter is taken for use at a point in its progress to the smoke chimney, beyond which these improvements have make any use of it.

Having thus fully described the nat-ure of my improvement, in the manner of consuming the smoke and combustible gases that escape from the furnaces of steam engine or other boilers, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

rI`he introducing of atmospheric air either at its ordinary t-emperature, or after it has been duly heated, into the end of the flues of such boilers, where the gaseous matt-er enters through a tube, furnished with a register or other means of regulating the quantity admitted, said tube being situated, arranged, and operating substantially in the manner herein set forth.

P. ROBINSON. Inv presence of- CHARLES S. SWIFT, D. W. FORMAN.

sought to 

